92 Euro Coolant in the motor

[Jim Rockford]

Hi, I've got a 92 lumina euro with 154,00 miles. Recently i started it up and the temp light came on and i started lowing smoke out the exaust so i took it to a local shop just around the corner, They told me a coolant seal or something had gone bad and i was getting coolant into the motor. Now the car is in pretty good shape and i jsut put over 1,000 into it and i'm wondering if the motor will be alright if i fix the seal opr has my car reached its last days.

[meuhus]

Originally Posted by Jim Rockford

Hi, I've got a 92 lumina euro with 154,00 miles. Recently i started it up and the temp light came on and i started lowing smoke out the exaust so i took it to a local shop just around the corner, They told me a coolant seal or something had gone bad and i was getting coolant into the motor. Now the car is in pretty good shape and i jsut put over 1,000 into it and i'm wondering if the motor will be alright if i fix the seal opr has my car reached its last days.

sounds like a head gasket has blown
i think this is the only seal that they could be referring to
it could be pricey for a shop to do

if you take the heads off
you could take them to certain auto parts stores (car quest
is the one near me that does machine work on engine parts)
or any reputible engine rebuilder
have them checked for cracks and straightness
may have to be machined flat again
you may as well do a valve job

clean off block surface
check block with a straight edge
make sure block is not warped

make sure the block is clean
no oil or old gasket Material
and reassemble

you may want to get a manual
if you atempt this your self

unless you have the money let shop do it
my guess cost would be around $500 to $1000

[meuhus]

Originally Posted by Jim Rockford

Hi, I've got a 92 lumina euro with 154,00 miles. Recently i started it up and the temp light came on and i started lowing smoke out the exaust so i took it to a local shop just around the corner, They told me a coolant seal or something had gone bad and i was getting coolant into the motor. Now the car is in pretty good shape and i jsut put over 1,000 into it and i'm wondering if the motor will be alright if i fix the seal opr has my car reached its last days.

unless it is the lower intake manifold gaskets leaking

[Jim Rockford]

Originally Posted by meuhus

unless it is the lower intake manifold gaskets leaking

He said its a cheap fix but he didn't recommend it, But i've neevr gone to this guy and after he said it wasn't worth fixing tryed to sell me another car so i'm not sure if hes being truthful here.

[tblake]

a cheap fix not worth doing? Doesnt make sense unless there is something else wrong. If you got 150,000 miles out of the 3.1 without replacing the lower intake gasket, your in good shape. I myself would attempt a repair like this myself. And if you havn't done the intake job yet, even if it isnt your problem, your car is due for a new intake gasket anyway. While your there, might as well take the heads off, and change the head gaskets too. I agree its a big job, and if you do attempt it, make sure you buy new head bolts and torque them correctly.

[Jim Rockford]

I just foud the paper he gave me with the car, He says it would cost 1,500 just to fix the seal and to not even think about fixing it. Needless to say this puts me in a really tough spot for my 30 miles commute.

[richtazz]

IF you have the mechanical ability, do a compression test. If the car passes the compression test, then all you need is an intake manifold gasket replaced, which isn't beyond a DIY job. An intake job on your car shouldn't cost more than $500-$600 tops, as it's only a 4-5 hour job at most.

[Jim Rockford]

Heres the paper i got word for word.

Customer says exhaust was smokeing and the collant was empty and the temp went high

Found that the cylender head gasget is leaking internally and externally -- may have been caused by engine overheating? we found collant in the cylinders after removieng a few of the spark plugs. we recommend a new engine due to high mileage (the coolant can damage the inside of the engine and the higher compression once the gasgets are replaced is known to cause lower bearing failure almost emmediately after repairing in vehicles with over 100k miles on them).

So i dunno what do you guys think.

[gpc223]

where is the heater blower motor on a 1990 chevy lumina? thanks

[meuhus]

Originally Posted by Jim Rockford

Heres the paper i got word for word.

Customer says exhaust was smokeing and the collant was empty and the temp went high

Found that the cylender head gasget is leaking internally and externally -- may have been caused by engine overheating? we found collant in the cylinders after removieng a few of the spark plugs. we recommend a new engine due to high mileage (the coolant can damage the inside of the engine and the higher compression once the gasgets are replaced is known to cause lower bearing failure almost emmediately after repairing in vehicles with over 100k miles on them).

So i dunno what do you guys think.

i don't know for sure if you need to replace the motor
my dad had a 94 s-10 2wd with a 2.2 four banger
it blew the head gasket three times
we replaced the head gasket each time
with no lower bear failures it had 100,00 plus

also my parent used to had a couple of honda civics
we in stalled motors from japan that had only 30,000
sposidly any way the head gaskets on those blew out after a few thousand miles
we replaced those (head gaskets)
and never had a problem

it kind of sounds like he is tring to sell you a motor
or tring to cover his butt
but if the motor got hot enough it could have cracked the block and or the heads if you love is car as i love my lumina and you have the money it may be worth the cash to replace the motor